Monday, 24 Mar 2014, 8:52:00 AM

Tim Broughton

Bail was set at $76,000 on Thursday, March 13 for a 25-year-old man arrested for stealing a cell phone from a woman’s hand while she waited at a Santa Monica bus stop.

Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department received a report of a strong-arm robbery at 10 am on this day that had allegedly taken place in the 1900 block of Sixth Street.

The officers rushed to the scene.

Upon arrival the officers spoke with the female victim who told them what had happened. She claimed that a man had grabbed her cellphone from her grip as she waited for a bus in the 1900 block of Lincoln Boulevard.

She added she had chased after this man whilst yelling, “Stop! Stop!” However, the suspect did not stop in response to these requests.

A passerby on a bicycle heard all the commotion and joined in the chase. After a few moments, the victim and the passerby on the bicycle trapped the suspect behind a secured gate in the 600 block of Pico Place.

The suspect then shoved the phone under the gate at which point the victim used it to call police.

The suspect was able to run away while the victim was summoning the assistance of the police, but after a broadcast was sent out on the police radio system, other patrolling officers caught this man in the 1800 block of Seventh Street.

The victim was taken to that location where she positively identified the man as the one who had taken her phone.

This man was arrested and charged with strong-arm robbery.

Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of The Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.